An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

News Releases

News Releases from Region 08

EPA Announces 2018 Annual Superfund Accomplishments

Progress at sites in Region 8 reflect improvements in Superfund program

03/04/2019
Contact Information: 
Richard Mylott (mylott.richard@epa.gov)
303-312-6654

DENVER– Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is releasing Superfund’s annual report covering major accomplishments and environmental progress during fiscal year 2018. The Superfund program is a top priority for EPA under President Trump, and the agency is making great strides in accelerating sites through remediation and back to productive use. As detailed in the report, communities across the country are benefitting from these efforts.

“We are proud to report that in Fiscal Year 2018 EPA deleted all or part of 22 sites from the National Priorities List, the largest number of deletions in one year since 2005,” said EPA Administrator Andrew Wheeler. “By renewing and elevating our focus on Superfund under President Trump, we are accelerating cleanups, returning sites to productive reuse, and revitalizing communities across the country.”

“Increasing the quality and efficiency of our work at Superfund sites remains a priority in EPA Region 8,” said EPA Regional Administrator Doug Benevento. “These efforts are delivering tangible human health and environmental outcomes and are strengthening our communities by restoring properties to safe and productive reuse.”

Region 8 Superfund Highlights

  • In 2018 EPA Region 8 made significant progress in returning several Superfund sites back to beneficial use. In October 2018, the Region celebrated the groundbreaking of an expansive new development at the Sharon Steel Superfund Site with our partners at Midvale City and the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. EPA has been working to support redevelopment in the community for many years, and the mixed-use project, known as Jordan Bluffs, will bring office and retail space as well as thousands of housing units.
  • In 2018, EPA also completed cleanup at all residential and commercial properties at the Libby Asbestos Superfund Site in Libby, Montana. The agency presented reuse awards to the City of Libby and other stakeholders at a November ceremony.
  • Region 8 also deleted two major sites in Utah from the Superfund National Priorities List in 2018:  the Davenport & Flagstaff Smelters Superfund site in Sandy and the Eureka Mills Superfund site that is part of a historic mining district and home to the Town of Eureka.
  • In addition, EPA Region 8 began work this past year to achieve an accelerated cleanup at the Colorado Smelter Site in Pueblo, Colorado. EPA has already completed cleanups at 50 indoor and outdoor properties and expects to complete residential cleanups by 2022, well ahead of schedule.  

National Superfund Highlights

  • Improving human health for people living near our sites by controlling potential or actual human exposure risk at 32 additional Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) sites and controlling the migration of contaminated groundwater at 29 sites.
  • Deleting 18 full and four partial sites from the NPL – the largest number of deletions in one year since 2005 – signaling to the surrounding communities that EPA has completed the job of transforming these once highly contaminated areas.
  • Returning sites to communities for redevelopment by identifying 51 additional sites as having all long-term protections in place and meeting our “sitewide ready for anticipated use” designation, the highest annual result since 2013.
  • Completing or providing oversight of 242 Superfund removal actions at sites where contamination posed an imminent and substantial threat to human health and the environment.
  • Quickly and effectively responding to large scale emergencies brought on by hurricanes, wildfires, and other natural disasters in California, North Carolina, Puerto Rico and elsewhere.
  • Moving many sites closer to completion by making decisions that have been delayed, including West Lake Landfill in Bridgeton, Mo.; USS Lead in East Chicago, Ind.; and San Jacinto Waste Pits in Channelview, Texas.

In addition, in July 2018, on the one-year anniversary of the agency’s Superfund Task Force Recommendations, EPA issued a report covering Task Force accomplishments to date and laying out its plan for completing the remaining recommendations in 2019.

Click here to read the full report: https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/superfund/superfund-remedial-annual-accomplishments